Problem:
For which is it possible to fill the by table with 's, 's and 's so that the sums of numbers in rows and columns take all different values from to ?
Solution
Solution:
For odd it is impossible to create a table like that. Indeed, in such a table the sum of all column sums and row sums would be , and so would be odd. But it would also be twice the sum of all the numbers in the table (each number counted twice - once in the column sum, once in the row sum), and so would have to be even. This contradiction proves that no such table exists.
For any even such a table exists. If one takes a by table and fills in all the elements above the main diagonal (running from upper left to lower right corner of the table) with 's, all the elements below the main diagonal with 's, first elements on the diagonal with 's and the last elements on the main diagonal with 's, one gets a table that satisfies the conditions. Indeed, the sums of elements in the first rows (top to bottom) are , the next rows . The sums of elements in the first columns (left to right) are , the next columns . We see that all the numbers from to appear exactly once, as wanted.